Packing for fluid-engines.



WILLIAM F. PURCELL, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

PACKING FOR FLUID-ENGINES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed May 1, 1908.

Serial No. 430,356.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, VILLIAM F. PURCELL, citizen of the United States,and resident of the borough of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings andState of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inPacking for Fluid-Engines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to packing for fluid driven or fluid controllingmachines, and its object is to provide an automatically-adjustable meansto compensate for wear and to maintain fluid tight joints betweenrelatively movable parts.

A further object of the invention is to provide a packing, which, whenapplied to parts intended to be rotated at high speed, will embody aprovision whereby the effect of centrifugal force will be taken up bythe part in which the packing'is mounted, and so obviate the harmfuleffect of an undue pressure in its frictional contact with con tiguousparts.

The invention consists of a packing member adapted to seal betweenrelatively moving bodies and a means whereby an axial movement impartedto said packing member will cause it to establish a more perfect seal.It further consists in certain structural features of the mounting forsaid packing member whereby, when the latter is carried by a high-speedrotary part, it will be restrained from radial movement with respect tothe axis of said part.

In the accompanying drawing, Figure 1 is a sectional representation of arotary valve to which my invention is applied; Fig. 2 is a perspectiveview of the rotating member of Fig. 1, detached; Fig. 3 is a sectionalrepresentation of the piston and casing of a certain type of rotarymotor; Fig. at is a detail view of a packing member; Fig. 5 is a similarview of a slightly modified form of packing member; and Fig. 6 is asectional view illustrating the application of my invention to areciprocating valve.

Referring to the drawings in which similar reference characters denotecorresponding parts throughout the several figures,1,is a casing, 2, amovable body inclosed therein, and 3, packing members carried by saidmovable body and adapted to move in frictional engagement with the wallof the casing.

In Fig. 1 the movable body 2, is provided with radial ports a, a, whichcommunicate with the axial bore 1), in the shaft 4, the latter beingconnected with a suitable source of fluid supply, not shown. The casingis provided with four radial ports 0, 0, and d, (i, which arealternately brought into alinement with the ports a, a, when the body 2is rotated.

It is intended that the body 2 be rotated at a high speed, and in orderto establish a fluid-tight joint between it and the surrounding wall ofthe casing l, and at the same time avoid undue friction between thepacking and the casing I provide the following: The body 2 is providedwith a number of grooves 5, extending longitudinally from end to endthereof, (Fig. 2) the center of each groove being located at a distancefrom the periphery of said body less than half the diameter of thegroove, so that the wall of the groove will be intersected by theperiphery of the body 2, leaving an approximately cylindrical seat orcradle with an open mouth 6, and overhanging edges 7 There are four ofthese grooves, but obviously there may be more or fewer as desired.

At the bottom of each groove 5, there is a small chamber 8, and eachpair of such chambers is connected together by a passage 9, the purposeof which will presently appear.

The packing members (Figs. 4 and are preferably integral bodies ofsuitable packing material, corresponding in length and cross section tothe grooves 5, into which they are fitted; the relatively flattenedportion 10 of each packing member lying between the overhanging edges 7,of its respective groove.

12 denote lugs or pins projecting from the packing members 3, in radialdirection, and entering chambers 8, where they are engaged by springs13. Inv Fig. 1, one spring serves for two packing members, said springoccupying the passage 9, before referred to, and exerting a constantpressure against the lugs 12, which tends to tilt the packing member andso force one of the corners 14;, thereof, against the inner surface ofthe casing 1. In this manner the results of wear are automaticallycompensated for and a tight seal preserved,not, it should be noted, bymoving the packing member bodily toward the casing, but by changing theangular relation of the flattened surface 10, of said member to theinterior surface of the casing, while said member as a whole retains itsoriginal position, and is restrained Patented Oct. 25, 1910.

from radial movement both outwardly and inwardly.

In Fig. 3, 1 and 2*, denote the casing and piston respectively of arotary engine or pump of a type in which both said piston and saidcasing are movable. Such an engine is fully described and illustrated inU. S. Patent to Smith and Purcell, No. 883,430, hlarch 31, 19.08, andneeds no further description herein. In this case the piston 2* isprovided with longitudinal grooves v5 similar to those described inreference to Fig. 1, and receive similarly constructed and similarlyoperating springpressed packing members 3 In the case of sliding orreciprocating parts as indicated in Fig. 6, or in low-speed rotaryengines or the like, where there is little or no centrifugal actiontending to bind the packing against the interior wall of the casing, theoverhanging edges 7 are unnecessary.

In Fig. 6, 1 is a stationary part of a valve mechanism, 2 a sliding orreciprocating valve, and 3 the packing member, which is an approximatelysemi-cylindrical body fitted into an approximately semicylindricalgroove 5 The spring 13 in this case is provided with an adjusting screw14 whereby the tension of the spring may be regulated.

Fig. 5 illustrates the form of packing which might be used in lieu ofthat shown in Fig. 3 in case the engine were intended to be run at a lowspeed.

The operation of the invention in view of the foregoing is obvious, andit is believed that many of the advantages of the same are also obvious,but I wish to call attention to one distinct advantage, and that is thatno reasonable amount of wear that the packing may be subjected to canpossibly affect its efficiency. Owing to its peculiar mounting it is asgood when much worn as when new, is always held up to its work andalways backed up by its support. It can never rattle or hammer in itsmounting or become displaced.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a machine of the character described, the combination of twobodies, one of them being movable, a cylindrical packing member adaptedto form a seal between said bodies, and cradled in one of them, meansfor tilting said packing member, and means for restraining the movementof the same in other directions.

2. In a machine of the character described, the combination of a movableand a stationary body, a cylindrical packing member carried by themovable body, said member having a flattened side which is adapted tocontact with a surface of the stationary body, and means for changingthe angular relation of the said flattened side to the said surface.

Signed at No. 144 Sixth avenue New York city in the county of New Yorkand State of New York this 29th day of April IVILLIAM F. PURCELL.itnesses J os. ISAACS, JOHN H. SMITH.

